Gynecologic as well as general surgeons continue to increase the number of surgeries that are being performed by minimally-invasive procedures. These procedures often involve laparoscopy through small holes in the abdominal wall. Laparoscopy faces new challenges such as determining methods for removing large organ or tissue specimens through small holes in the abdomen.
To address these challenges, the medical industry has developed many different types of tissue morcellator devices to remove the tissue specimens in a “cut up” or morcellated strip type fashion from the peritoneal cavity or elsewhere from within the body. Furthermore, some surgeons have performed “hand Morcellation” as another laparoscopic procedures in which tissue in the peritoneal cavity, or elsewhere in the body, is cut by hand into small pieces using cutting devices passed through a slightly larger hole and later removed through the hole. Morcellation procedures are usually accomplished with little, if any, regard to the control, identification, and removal of tissue fragments and/or blood that is dropped or sprayed internally within the peritoneal cavity of a patient during a procedure. If any attention is paid to dropped or sprayed tissue, only larger, macroscopic fragments may be retrieved and removed from the patient.
Recently, a Morcellation procedures, often referred to as “open power Morcellation,” has come under extreme criticism in the medical community. During “open power Morcellation” while performing a hysterectomy (partial, total, radical), myomectomy (to remove fibroids), or other procedure to remove cancerous or noncancerous tissue from the uterus, it is commonplace for pieces of uterine tissue and blood to be sprayed about and dropped into the peritoneal cavity. Some patients who have undergone this procedure have developed benign and metastatic fragment disease as reported in the medical literature. In responding to this significant problem, several private and government entities have moved to prohibit or restrict “open power Morcellation.” This will unfortunately diminish significant advances in the field of minimally-invasive laparoscopic surgery for women and in other surgical applications as well.
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique and device for collecting and assisting in removing tissue and blood that may be sprayed or may fall into the peritoneal cavity during a Morcellation procedure. At present, no products on the market address this need. There are bags designed for other purposes, but these bags are inadequate for addressing the present need for several reasons. For example, retrieval bags are attached to a frame or are either too small or fail to stay open or maintain their shape to be effective during a Morcellation procedure.
Therefore, there is a need for new techniques and collection devices to address the problems with current Morcellation procedures. This invention addresses the problems without regressing from the advancements made in this area of surgical medicine. The invention, which may be referred to generally as “Endo-Field,” represents a field in which surgeons can continue to operate laparoscopically and minimize, if not prevent, unwanted dissemination of blood and piece(s) of tissue throughout the peritoneal cavity by collecting and removing such blood and piece(s) of tissue during the Morcellation procedure.